"sort By" In Excel

[zingo1327]

Hi guys
Is there any way I can merge 2 columns in Excel
I am building up a database of horses and their trainers but unfortunately
I put the horses in column "A" and their trainers in column "B" (Instead of putting them both in the one column)
I want to "sort" them alphabeticaly but if I sort the horses alphabeticaly
then the trainers in column "B" won't be with their correct horses.
I've tried moving the lot to a new enlarged column but the two columns still remain seperate.If you can help me here it will save me re-typing for hours and hours
Hope this makes sense
Thank you in advance

[Buenchico]

You seem to be sorting by range (with that range restricted to a single column) instead of sorting by sheet (which is what you need to do).

Do NOT highlight the whole of column A, and then sort it, as that invokes 'sort by range', which will leave column B unchanged. Instead, select a SINGLE CELL from column A and then use the command to sort alphabetically. That will sort column A AND it will move the data in other columns as well, keeping everything correctly tied together.

https://www.gcflearnfree.org/excel2016/sorting-data/1/

[EdmundD]

There is a concatenation function that will merge the cells for you.

[zingo1327]

thanks a million guys.You've saved me hours and hours of re-typing

[ToraToraTora]

always ask for what you need in excel it is a very very powerful program but if you do not know you can end up tying yourself in knots and doing loads of unnecessary work. I'm no master but I have helped countless people with really simple but not obvious techniques. Buenchico is very good and has answered for you this time. in your case here there is no need to merge cells and that gives you flexibility to sort by horses and by trainers as required. Good luck